Vegas, baby!

I'm sorry to say that no real Vegas stories came out of my trip, not much exciting happened.  I've been to Vegas before with Thomas.  We loved the Cirque De Soleil show, but other than that, though the city was kind of tacky...  This trip however, I saw it through a photographer's eyes.  And I'm now happy to report that it is not just tacky, but it is delightfully tacky.  The lights, the water, the color... all of that combines for some amazing photos!!

These photos below are from the Beatles Cirque Du Soleil show - I've never seen it, but I would LOVE to go there this year!!  At least the lights were cool.

Photos tomorrow from San Diego - with Jeremy, the man who made this trip possible.

Denver Adventure: Part 2

I am not a morning person.  If you catch me in a good mood at 6am, most of of the time it's because I haven't gone to sleep yet.  But you should have seen the amount of energy I had the morning of this photo shoot.  I barely got 3 hours of sleep, I was so excited!  We met up with the other photographer, Brody Hall, around 7am and ate donuts to celebrate his birthday!  Now, I definitely have a sweet tooth, but as I finished that Crispy Creme donut, I had flashbacks of motion-sickness - swimming 100m at summer swim team age 10 and throwing up the donut at the end.  Uh oh... hope the plane ride wasn't going to be too bumpy!  Oh well.  :)  Happy birthday Brody.

But I got all my nerves out the day before, so this morning, I'm not nervous at all - I'm just bouncing off the walls.  Literally running away in middle of a conversation because I see some cool photo on the wall over there...  Brody said I "pranced."  I did feel a little bit like a little girl, but at least I was having fun!

As the photographers, we had to work really hard with space (or lack thereof), the windows (shooting through them was difficult!) and the angles (trying to tell one pilot to fly higher or lower so we could see them).  I had my feet up against one wall and my back up against the other with my elbows on my knees to stabilize the lens - I've never had to shoot from such a fast and bumpy vehicle!  As I've been shooting weddings full time for the last year, this was a brand new experience for me and I was very grateful for Brody's suggestions.  I even got to shoot with his 300mm f/2.8 lens!  That thing was heavy!  But looking through the photos afterwards, I'm almost as excited as while I was flying.  It was a challenge, so unique, and I got what I wanted!

Say "hi" to Shane!

And the Denver skyline.

 

 

A Denver Adventure: Part 1

What an amazing week!  A week of new experiences and perspectives, beautiful scenery, lots of people, places, and music.  Here's the beginning of the story:

I have never been in a small plane like a Cessna, and I've always wanted to.  (I rode in a private jet as a teenager with some very generous family friends, but that's just like a smaller commercial plane.)  And secretly, I'm an adrenaline junky.  That slightly unsettled feeling in my stomach before I'm about to do something dangerous is quite the thrill.  I think I get that from my mom.  She pretends to be cautious and careful, but she broke her tibia and fibia in half skiing, broke a rib Kite surfing, and I've even seen her start wake boarding from a dock, pulled into the water, then bring herself closer to the boat and continue wake surfing.  Adventure!

Anyway, when I was asked if I'd be interested to go to Denver for an aerial shoot, I was speechless from excitement.  Giddy, even.  There were not words to describe how I felt.  Maybe "wahooooo!" haha.

So part 1.  The drive from Salt Lake to Denver with two amazing people and some pretty incredible views.  I forgot to take pictures this day (I think it was because I was still wearing my pajamas, but I wouldn't have been in the photos anyway!)  Oh well.  The couple I was staying with for the weekend took us to a very tasty Korean restaurant.  Another first for me!  Then I had the pleasure of listening to the band In-2-Wishin.  These guys were really good!  Just one new thing after another.  Woke up the next morning and headed to the airport for the flight.  I was rather quiet all day because, well, as much as I hate to admit it, I was actually getting nervous.  The shoot was set up to have two pilots and a photographer in each plane shooting the other plane.  Both pilots have had their licenses for about 10 years, one flies commercially, and the other is an instructor with the flight school.  So I knew I was in good hands, but I was still getting a little nervous...

Here was our plane:

I was sitting in the airport awkwardly trying not to think about being nervous, so when people started taking pictures, I had to prove that I was excited.  Here's my "oh wow, I get to go on a plane" face:

Then things actually got scary.  We'd been sitting in the airport waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive and watching other planes take off and land.  And several of them were having some trouble. The wings were wobbling and a few of them couldn't land, so they went back up into the air.  Wind speeds were insane!!!  We walked out to the plane and watched the parked plane move left and right.  Ummmm.... yeah.  I'm very grateful everyone wanted to be safe, so after 3 hours or so of waiting for winds to slow, we postponed the shoot to day 2.  And of course, an hour later, the winds did drop.  So before we took the plane back to the hanger, we decided to take the plane up for a quick flight, not flying in formation, not for the shoot, just for the experience.  And what an experience it was.  There is no feeling in the world that matches what it feels like to fly.  I was singing and smiling and laughing and giggling... what a thrill!

I'm in awe of the mechanics of the plane itself and how far we as humans have developed to just hop in a metal thing with wings and take it up in the air.  And the skill it takes to fly it!  Shane (the pilot) had me do a flight simulator on the computer after the flight and as my fake plane landed in LAX, I almost crashed and it spun around in an amazing 180.  I didn't crash it, but I ended up on the grass.  The fake passengers walked away alive, but in their fake world I'm sure many of them would never get in a plane again...  Let's just say everyone was grateful I wasn't the one to land the real plane!

Here's Shane in full concentration, just after take off:

And a few other favorites from the short trip:

 

 

With the photo above I learned that every pilot needs two things to be identified as a pilot - aviators and an awesome watch.  Needless to say, I was feeling pretty cool with both of them...  There's also the pilot's hat, but that didn't show up until the next day.

So thank you Shane for making my day!  And for being safe when the winds were a little too crazy :)

 

Look for part 2 with the actual photo shoot tomorrow!

Dueling Pianos

  My sister's in town this week!  So, we took her to the dueling pianos at Keys on Main last night.  I love going there on week nights because everything's just a little more relaxed.

Now, in the story of my life: before there was photography, there was music.  I've always needed an artistic outlet, and I've sung all my life and played most every instrument at some point.  I actually studied Music Education at BYU.  Here's the thing, though:  I grew up listening to jazz, classical, my mom's favorite music (usually stuff from the 40's), and occasionally my sister's music in the car.  So, my knowledge of music theory might be strong, but my the song I actually recognize???  Well, my repertoire has definitely been lacking.  So it is amazing to just sit in a piano bar on Wednesday night and hear a huge variety of different styles and songs all with insanely talented musicians and a friendly bartender to serve our non-alcoholic drinks :)  I'm learning new songs, enjoying the music and the emotion... Very little compares to good live music.  And I was excited to get some cool photos last night.

There was an awesome saxaphone player!

And my two favorite pianists.  First, Kendrick.  This guy is an entertainer.  Along with many other wonderful songs of course, he managed to successfully and impressively sing Lady Ga Ga's "Poker Face" last night.  And the crowd went wild!

Then there's Rich Wyman.  When I first heard him sing, I just sat there with my jaw dropped.  He has such a unique style in his voice with so much passion for the music, it's contagious!  He has released several albums of original work and also recently released one called "Songs I Wish I Wrote."  It's my new favorite "I've been sitting at a computer editing for too long and I'm going crazy" music.  Refreshing and motivating, full of emotion.  I love it!

Check out his website

Buy his original music on itunes

Or his new album on CD Baby

I loved how the lighting worked in these shots too.  Perfect atmosphere!

Check out more photos from this evening at Keys on Main HERE

Karaoke

When Thomas and I met, we were swing dancing like it was a part time job - 15+ hours a week.  And it was awesome!  Somewhere along the road, though, we turned into boring... err... "responsible"... adults.  I had health problems, he got a full time job with an investment firm, then I got a business that grew much faster than my social life could handle.  We haven't exactly gone dancing much over the last few years...  But a couple months ago we vowed to be fun people again!  Yay!  Discovered a dueling piano bar in Salt Lake called Keys on Main.  As long as the crowd doesn't get too rowdy, it is an awesome venue.  And better yet, they have karaoke on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Some nights it's a lot of drunk people singing and they might have beautiful voices, but it's hard to tell because they're a little out of control.  Sometimes they get great talent on stage!  This night, one of the best songs was definitely Thomas's "Come Together" by the Beatles.  Every girl (and guy!  Might have picked up a few admirers) in the room had eyes on him.

Holli and David (remember them?  We did their wedding a while back, then family photos) also went with us.  Let me know if anyone else wants to go next time, the more the merrier!

And I look like a crazy person in this photo below, but my mouth is making the shape for the beginning of the word "Love."  When I was a little kid, we used to blast my mom's CD (or maybe it was a tape back then, I'm not sure!) to Linda Ronstadt's "It's so Easy to Fall in Love" and sing it at the top of our lungs.  What I didn't remember when I requested this song at karaoke is that the reason we knew that song so well as kids is because it was so darn repetitive.  I think I must've sang the phrase "It's so easy" 100 times in the song!  So they teased me a little bit when I sat back down - "How easy is it to fall in love?" but it's all in fun.  That's what karaoke is about, isn't it?

 

"Thank you very much, we'll be here all week"

Jamaica

When Jasmine and I started looking for locations for our cruise, the first requirement was warm.  She's moved out to New York City and I'm still in Utah, so we wanted to get away from the winter.  This vetoed the Antarctica cruise.  The second thing that sparked our interest was Jamaica.  To be honest, we chose this cruise specifically so that we could go to Jamaica.  We grew up with the movie "Cool Runnings", and we were just a little tinsey bit obsessed.  We loved quoting the movie- "Ya mon!"  "No problem, mon!"  "Hey Sanka, ya dead?!"  And everything you see if movies is true, right?  OK, maybe not.  But we were still excited.

Sooooo, we didn't see a bobsled team practicing going downhill, and there wasn't live music on every corner.  But Jamaica did have  vivid colors everywhere.  The blues in the water, the umbrellas and clothes, the lush greenery and even some flowers.  I was bummed we didn't really meet a "Sanka" character like in Cool Runnings, but we had a few funny experiences with  some locals.  "Can we get you girls anything?  A taxi?  ...Some grass?"   Yeaaah, definitely not in Utah anymore ;-)

Below is the patio where we tried jerk chicken and pork.  It was decent, but I imagine it's a lot like BBQ, the flavors, spiciness, and overall quality varies.  I'll definitely try it again some time in a less tourist-y area.  I love how the umbrellas match the flowers though.

This guy made me smile - singing "Don't worry about a thing, cuz every little thing is gonna be alright..."  Love music like that!  And the colors from the market behind him.

 

The top right photo above is my favorite from the whole trip - the yellow umbrella with the blue water and the gorgeous sand.  Looks like the perfect vacation to me.

And I thought the bottom left photo below was really cool, but Thomas said you can't really tell it's a wave coming up on the sand.  Maybe we'll call it abstract art?

 

Played a bit with the Canon G11 and the underwater casing, first time really using it and I say 2 thumbs up.  However, we also had the rest of our camera gear and didn't want to just leave it sitting on the beach, so we actually traded off - Jasmine would go swimming while I sat on the beach, then I would go swimming while she sat on the beach.  Definitely remembering to bring a larger group to the beach next time.  We met a cute little old lady who seemed trustworthy (and apparently was since she didn't steal our stuff!) set the cameras by her for the last 10 minutes so we could play in the water together.  Can you believe how blue that water is though?  Unreal!

Carlin Family- Downtown Salt Lake

  It's so fun to have more family living in Utah now.  Sandy is my sister-in-law, and she moved here with her family when her husband Kevin got a new job in Provo.  She has always been really supportive of my work, and so I was delighted when we came up with an arrangement for some trade work.  I would take family portraits of them, and she would come over several times to clean the house.  Given I would MUCH rather be taking photos than doing housework, I think this might be the best trade deal I've had to date!

It reminds me of the movie Julie and Julia, when Julie tells her boyfriend she knows why she's so bad at housework- she has ADD.  And he says "OH!  Is thaaat it?"  Yes.  I must have ADD.

  

I may be biased, but my niece and nephew are adorable.  You can't deny it!

Happy Thanksgiving

  It's a little bit late, but I wanted to share some photos from Thanksgiving and say how grateful I am to have had the time to spend with my family.  At the end of the day, I know that what I am most grateful for are a supportive family, a loving husband, and the time I get to spend with them.  But I'm also grateful for good food.  It's a close second :)  And nothing is better than Mom's cooking.

Amazing vegetables - Green beans sauteed with garlic (and butter of course!) and Asparagus lightly sprinkled with salt and sugar.  Unusual, but it's fantastic!

 

Roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams.

Fruit salad,                                                                                                                            Cucumbers and tomatoes with vinegar.

 

And not your traditional Thanksgiving meat, but since my Dad's from New Zealand, we grew up eating lamb with mint sauce for our fancy dinners and he was happy to cook it for us while everyone was in town.  It took a few hours to drive around and actually find a store selling it, but definitely worth it.

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas!

Zilker Botanical Gardens

  I had a few minutes before the bride and groom arrived for the formals / bridals/ groomals session at the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin Texas a couple weeks ago, so I made sure to stop and smell the flowers!

Now I am not really one for landscape photography.  As a general rule when I see a gorgeous sunset, or a majestic mountain peak, or a colorful bed of flowers, I say to myself "OH that's beautiful.  Now I just need a person there so I can take a photo."  When I take a photo, it's usually not complete unless there is someone in the picture as well.

That being said, the Zilker Botanical Gardens was a special place for me when I was growing up in Austin, and I went there all the time to think.  It's one of the iconic places in Austin, and if you happen to be visiting, you should not miss it.  More photos to come from Texas, as I make progress on Katherine and Matt's wedding, and as I finish up an engagement session I ended up doing for an old friend and his beautiful fiancee.